It's looking like, for the third year in a row, we might have a holiday season pet casualty.
Jack, our oldest cat and the first pet that my wife and I got together, took a very sudden and unexpected turn. He was his displaying typical, occasional pickiness with food until he just stopped eating altogether a few days ago. About a month ago, we'd noticed that he'd gotten a little leaner his coat was a little more scraggly, but we chalked that up to his advancing age (~17). When he stopped showing up at meal time, we noticed a more dramatic drop in weight (he's never been much of a lap cat and only accepted affection on the occasions when he sought it out), Looking back, we think that he'd been eating less and less but that was masked by his chubby little sister, who'd been cleaning up his bowls after him. We took him to the vet the day before Thanksgiving and he's been on antibiotics and steroids since, but he hasn't turned a corner yet, and it's looking less likely that he will.
We're obviously upset about the prospect of losing him, but there's the kids, as well. The girl is still too young to wrap her head around it, but this is tough sledding for the boy. Lucy two years ago, Ivy last year and now Jack is ailing. Years ago, when the boy was a toddler and the animals were all in good health, I remember voicing this concern to my wife, that all of the animals were within two years of age with each other, and that they go quickly when they started to go. It's not something that I like being right about.